The Bombay police on January 19 arrested Maha Movie TV channel’s CEO, Sanjay Verma, in an alleged copyright violation case. He is also a wanted accused in the alleged Television Rating Points (TRP) rigging scam.
Verma was apprehended by the Bombay police’s Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU). A case of copyright violation was registered at the Juhu police station in Bombay, and the investigation into it was transferred to the CIU. During his interrogation, Sanjay Verma told crime branch officials that Maha Movie channel had illegally broadcast movies such as Zanjeer, Laawaris, Jaadugar, Mohabbat Ke Dushman and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar between June 10 and November 10, 2020. Copyrights of these films are with a company owned by Punit Mehra, son of legendary film producer Prakash Mehra. Mehra never sold those rights to any other company or individuals.
Earlier, the crime branch had arrested Mohammed Bilal Shaikh alias Raju Khan (42) and Ghanshyam Giri (42) in the case. Nine more persons are wanted in the case, including the proprietors of Zoya Films, Sonam music company, VIP Films, directors of Tele-One Consumers Pvt. Ltd., DV Media Entertainment Ltd. and Darvi Media Entertainment Ltd.